Hendrick: I will be eternally grateful for my first ticket
KEVIN HENDRICK’s girlfriend wasn’t happy. And neither were his friends. It was August 2001 and they all knew he had two tickets for the biggest show in town: Ireland v The Netherlands in a 2002 World Cup qualifier at Lansdowne Road.
They all wondered who the 21-year-old would take. They waited and waited, but they were all left disappointed. Kevin Hendrick knew there was only person he could bring — his youngest brother, Jeff.
Now, 15 years on, the youngest of the Hendrick clan has been the one arranging tickets for Ireland’s Euro 2016 campaign. His journey to this point really began that sunny day in Dublin.
‘It is definitely a memory I will keep, my first and only time in [the old] Lansdowne Road. I remember the day going in, getting the Dart in. It was a lovely day, too,’ he recalls, smiling.
‘I am eternally grateful to him for bringing me to it, I think it was my first live game, so it was a great game to get. I am so glad he didn’t bring one of his mates or his girlfriend at the time.’
Jason McAteer’s famous goal and the ensuing World Cup fever which gripped the country helped shape Hendrick’s desire to play Ireland.
Not that everyone encouraged him to dream.
‘It was around the time I was at that game and in school, a teacher asked “who wants to be a footballer?” Every hand went up. And he basically said it is a million to one chance that even one of us will make it. I am glad I proved him wrong.’
Hendrick hasn’t returned to St David’s CBS in Artane to point out his success, and there are some there who may still believe he took the wrong sporting path in life.
PE teacher Brian Talty, the former Galway footballer and Parnells stalwart, witnessed Hendrick’s talents first hand while Dublin goalkeeper Stephen Cluxton is a club-mate of his twin brothers, Ross and Alan, and remains close.
‘Growing up he was always a family friend and when I got a bit older I went to see the Dublin games and it was always great to see them do so well. I swapped a couple of Ireland jerseys for his Dublin ones,’ he says.
It was at St Kevin’s Boys where Hendrick’s talent flourished and one of the most enduring elements of this Ireland squad is that he is here with Robbie Brady, a fellow northsider who he grew up alongside at schoolboy level.
Their rise through the ranks provided different challenges. After Hendrick left home for Derby County at 16, Brady headed for Manchester United and he was the star for the young boys in green — becoming the record scorer at Under 21 level with seven goals.
Hendrick didn’t quite have such a central role but when Martin O’Neill put his trust in him over the course of the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign, he rewarded his manager with measured and calm performances. Not to mention producing one of the most delightful pieces of individual skill with his pirouette around the Georgian defence to set up Jon Walters at Aviva Stadium. And it was Hendrick’s athleticism that also ensured Wes Hoolahan’s overhit cross was kept in play so John O’Shea could net a last minute equaliser against Germany in Gelsenkirchen.
And while he may be trudging it out in the Championship, there is no danger of feeling overawed by the prospect of appearing at this stage or being star struck by more famous opponents.
‘A lot of the players (faced in qualifying), with Germany and Poland for example, were players who you watch in the Champions League or at top level in Spain or England or wherever, you respect what they are doing. I think you step onto the pitch and are playing against them, so you have got to do your job.’
After Ireland beat Germany in Dublin, football didn’t feel like a job, although for 90 minutes Hendrick put in a shift like never before. Thankfully the reward arrived when Shane Long blasted his way into Irish soccer lore.
‘I never played in a stadium where the atmosphere was like that, where the fans were singing right to the end. Even to be there right at the end, to hear the singing, we stood there and took it all in. I don’t think I will ever forget those moments. They will never leave my football memories.’
His brother provided the first one, now Jeff Hendrick is in the position to create some more.